'The doctor will see you now' - in the clinic at the mall

The medical office market is not exactly booming, but it has been relatively stable as providers, landlords and patients bide their time to see what, if any, effects the health care reforms enacted last year will have on the local market.

In the meantime, the most noticeable change in medical real estate has been the phenomenon of health care providers seeking more space in retail settings -- an opportunistic move to both take advantage of depressed lease rates in the vacancy-plagued retail sector and also serve to give providers an edge up in the scramble for new patients.

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits over the past five years, has boosted the pay of board members and top executives while sticking...